Grit And Wit Race Analysis

This was my second Grit 'n Wit race of 2015 and I was looking forward to the new mental challenges they would have for us this time.

• The Course:

The course started out with a very short sprint to the first mental challenge, which was a pattern of square boxes within square boxes and we had to figure out the total number of square boxes. Once you decided how many boxes in total, you picked up a wooden log (available in various sizes) and carried it to one of three distances based on the number you counted/decided on the boxes. A short distance ahead was the first physical challenge/obstacle on the course, a series of three four foot walls to hurdle/climb over. The course then continued on for a brief sprint and this early in the morning

Just a short trail run after was very challenging high wall obstacle that is designed to require team work to get up and over. The course then made its way to a puzzle challenge that brought back good childhood memories. After the puzzle, the course went a short way and then headed down the one hill in the park and up next was a nice and easy maze challenge that required maneuvering a golf ball through a quick maze. A short distance after the maze was the last obstacle on the course, which was a wall with a board at the bottom to traverse across. After the wall was a brief sprint to the finish line and completion of the

The shirt this time around was a very fissionable blue dry-tech type shirt that is very nice on the eyes.

• Overall Feelings and Event Rating:

This is clearly not a Spartan type race, but as I have said many times, that is not a bad thing and is good for the development and growth of the OCR sport.

Grit 'n Wit is a smaller OCR and so far for the most part has only attracted racers local to the Hartford CT area, but for the second Grit 'n Wit race in a row I saw a wide range of ethnic diversity at their races which I think is awesome. I see area for growth on the obstacles side of the race, but the race director is very mindful of what they can improve on (adding a finisher medal is a great example), so I expect to see improvements at future Grit 'n Wit races.

The mental challenges where fun and challenging, the obstacles where for the most part challenging as well, the volunteers where helpful and had smiles all day (I ran four laps, so I got to see them often), and the new finisher medal is cool and also practical as it’s a bottle cap opener and key chain in one. I am rating this event a 4.8 out of 5